FicWad

Sodapop shifted in his bed as he woke up on Sunday morning to the smell of someone making breakfast. He smiled to himself as he remembered his very pleasant evening the night before. He finally opened up his eyes and let them get adjusted to the light, turning to look at the corner table of his bedroom, staring at the small piece of paper that a girl's phone number was written down. The number was from a girl named Nacey, one of the cutest girls he had ever seen. Spending time with her helped take his mind off what had happened with Sandy.

After yawning and some light stretching, Soda wandered out of his room to the kitchen, passing Ponyboy's bedroom along the way. He took a quick look inside, seeing his kid brother was still sleeping as well.

Soda had moved back into his own bedroom several weeks ago. Ponyboy had told both of his older brothers that he was fifteen now, and he wasn't a kid anymore. Pony insisted on staying by himself at night from now on, he didn't need a babysitter was how he put it.

To his own surprise, it was Sodapop who was having the hard time adjusting to Pony's absence. Walking into the kitchen with a huge smile across face, Sodapop saw that Darry had finished cooking eggs, with bacon and toast.

"What are you so happy about?" Darry asked when his saw his younger brother, just as he finished placing a large pile of scrambled eggs on a plate. He placed it in the center of the table before taking a seat.

"Stuff," Soda shrugged while cutting himself a piece of chocolate cake, which was also sitting on the counter just waiting to be devoured.

"It wouldn't happen to be that girl you met last night. The one you were drooling all over until one in the morning, keeping me up waiting for you?"

Soda laughed. "What time is it anyway?"

"A little after nine. We all slept in today." Darry answered in-between bites of egg.

"That's what Sundays are for."

"Weren't you supposed to be doing something with Steve today?"

"Oh, I almost forgot." Soda answered with his mouth full, having shoved his entire piece of cake into his mouth, much to Darry's disgust. Steve wanted Sodapop to come with him to see some car show in town.

"Before taking off, make sure Pony gets out of bed, will you?"

Back in his room, Ponyboy rolled over, blearily staring at his clock that was glowing at him from his bedside table. He could smell breakfast coming from his open bedroom door, but it wasn't enough to make him want to get up. He was still half asleep when just then, Pony could have sworn he had heard someone say his name. Then sure enough after about thirty seconds;

"Pony, get up." Sodapop repeated, standing in the doorway. "Me and Darry will eat everything if you don't." The only response Sodapop received was an annoyed groan, muffled by the blanket Ponyboy had been hiding under all morning as he buried his head into the feather pillow.

Soda rolled his eyes as an exasperated sigh scaped his lips.

It was apparent that Ponyboy wasn't going to get out of bed willingly, so a grin appeared on Soda's face as an idea came to mind. A rather childish idea, but one that was always effective, nonetheless.

"Alright…if you wanna be like that…" he trailed off, carefully beginning to creep towards the younger teen as quietly as he could. Pony said he wasn't a kid, but Soda was about to put that claim to the test.

Under the covers, Ponyboy had begun drifting back to sleep that Sodapop had bothered him out of. Once the world outside had gone quiet, his pestering brother had presumably gone, so he thought it safe to relax and go back to sleep.

Just as soon as he got comfortable again, a heavy weight suddenly landed on Ponyboy. The wind was slightly knocked out of him as a yelp escaped Pony's mouth right before Sodapop's fingers wiggled and begun tickling his younger brother, making Ponyboy start to laugh like a mad man. His legs kicked out as his breaths began coming out in gasps while Sodapop alternated from armpit to armpit, going full force on both of them.

"AhahahhnooSttoppppHAhahhah!HAHHAHAHAH!" Ponyboy yelled as his head thrashed from left to right. The youngest Curtis fought as much as he could but was trapped underneath Sodapop and the blanket had tangled up his legs.

Each finger prodded and poked over and over, keeping Ponyboy in stitches the whole time. After a minute or two, Soda started using his index and pointer finger to walk up and down his vulnerable side, just to mess with Pony but still tickle him. Sodapop planned to get his stomach, but he made the mistake of underestimating his ever-agile little brother.

Ponyboy had managed to grab a hold of Sodapop and somehow rolled the both of them backwards, ending up on top of his older brother. Now he was straddled on top of Sodapop, with Soda's arms pinned to his sides by Ponyboy's legs that were wrapped around his upper body. Pony began jabbing at Soda's unprotected chest and ribs, tickling him back, immediately getting quite the reaction from his brother. Both hands worked over Sodapop, moving with great speed. The one advantage Pony had was that he was faster than Sodapop.

"HAHAHAHAHA! STOP THAT-HAhahahahahAHAHAHAHAGEETTT OFFFFF AHAHAHAH OOFFF MEEEE!"

"I don't think so!" Pony yelled, not letting up for a second as he started going for Sodapop's stomach. "You started it!"

When Pony didn't let up, Soda lunged up and wrapped his arms around his neck, rolling them over again. Sodapop flipped Ponyboy on his back and sat on one arm while he pinned the other behind his head with his hand. Ponyboy left his entire upper body defenseless and Sodapop's to do what he pleased.

"AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH NOOO NOOO AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH LEETTT AHAHHAHAH GOOOOOAHA!" Pony yelled as Soda tickled his ribs and sides.

"Holler uncle, Pony!"

Just when Soda was sure of his victory, Ponyboy slipped his arm free and pushed him off of his chest. Sodapop tumbled off the bed and landed on the floor. Sodapop could see he that Pony was getting ready to jump on top of him. To avoid getting the wind knocked out of him, Soda lifted his leg to stop Pony, placing his own bare foot right in front of him.

Ponyboy quickly caught Sodapop's ankle and began tickling his foot. "You didn't need to help me out, but I'll take it."

Sodapop let out a huge wave of laughter as he tried to kick away with his free foot, but Ponyboy grabbed that ankle as well and started tickling both of Sodapop's feet. The golden-brown-haired teen had tensed up right before Ponyboy sparked a ticklish insanity in Sodapop. Pony's fingers tickled across his soles, scraping and tickling every possible inch of each foot.

"AAHHHAHAAHHAAHHHAAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA AHHAHAHAHAH AHAHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!" Sodapop let out another shriek as he was thrown back into a fit of laughter at that.

Ponyboy grinned as he realized he was actually winning.

"Holler uncle, Sodapop." Ponyboy grinned while continuing his tickle assault, ready to finally beat his older brother. However, before Ponyboy could break him, Sodapop finally managed to pull his left foot free and stuck his attacker right in his chest. Ponyboy fell off and Soda quickly got back up and hopped on top of Pony.

Sodapop's strength was wilted a bit from the previous attack, but he quickly wrangled Ponyboy's hands and forced them over his head before pinning them to the floor with one hand.

"No! Ugh, God this sucks!" Ponyboy admitted while facing how outmatched he was, but he failed to realize just how much trouble he was in. Soda had stacked Pony's hands on top of each other and with his free hand, tickled Ponyboy's ribs. Once it was enough to weaken him, Sodapop grabbed Pony's ankles and started tickling Ponyboy's feet in revenge.

"AAHHHAHAAHHAAHHHAAHA NOOOOOOOOOAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA AHHAHAHAHAH AHAHHHAAAAAAAAHA!"

"Holler uncle." Soda grinned, scribbled and scratched his fingers all over Ponyboy's feet. "I'm not stopping till you do so we can keep going as long as you want." Sodapop taunted as his cocky side came out after realizing it was only a matter of time before Ponyboy tapped.

"AhoAohAaohAaNnNOOoO!" Ponyboy refused even though he very much wanted to, hardly able to stand the tickling of his bare feet.

"You're only delaying the inevitable, you know. You always lose." That was true, Sodapop defeated Ponyboy every single time in this game.

Sodapop soon started tickling faster and started showing the base of Ponyboy's toes some attention too, lighting Ponyboy up with a wave of unruly sensations that his body could no longer handle.

"AaohAOhHUUUNNNCCCLLLEE!" Ponyboy submitted after his laughter spiraled into a humiliating high pitch. Sodapop stopped and raised his arms in triumph.

"Hell yeah! I win again!"

Ponyboy was breathing heavily as he twitched from the post-tickling itchiness.

"It's just a stupid game." Ponyboy finally managed to mutter once he got enough air back, rolling his eyes, hating the fact that he was zero for life in tickle fights against Soda.

"I always win." Sodapop bragged as stroked Pony's foot one last time before getting up off of him before heading back to his own room to change.

Ponyboy swore under his breath and just continued to lay there for a couple of minutes before finally getting up. He stumbled out of his bedroom, tripping over his own feet and smacked dab into something. Slightly flustered, Ponyboy backed up and quickly realized that he had just ran into Darry's chest.

Darry was staring down at him, an amused smirk on his face.

"Sodapop came out on top again, huh?"

"You know it." Soda laughed as he made his way out the front door.

"I'm gonna get you back for that, you jerk!" Pony vowed.

Once the middle Curtis brother was gone, Darry turned his attention back to the youngest.

"I Thought you said you weren't a little kid anymore Pony?"

"I'm not!" Ponyboy growled, as his voice slightly cracked.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive! I'm fifteen!" Now greatly annoyed, Ponyboy pushed his way around Darry, but something made him look back over his shoulder. A devilish grin had appeared on his oldest brother's face. Pony had seen that look so many times in the past.

That could only mean one thing.

Once the younger greaser realized what was about to happen next, he tried to dodge and run around his older brother, but Darry ducked down and caught Ponyboy's right leg, dragging him to the floor. It let Darry keep Ponyboy on the ground, on his back, trapped. Ponyboy was helpless against what was about to happen to him, again.

Darry stood back up while holding onto his youngest brother's ankles. His fingers let loose on Ponyboy's feet like a maniac. They tickled and scratched all over, Ponyboy let out a loud burst of laughter as he was once again subjected to tickle torture. "AAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAH NOOOAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHSSTTOOPPPPPPAHAHAHAHAH!"

"Holler uncle, Pony." Darry taunted as Ponyboy struggled to get away, not wanting to be beaten twice within only a couple of minutes. It should go without saying, Ponyboy always lost to Darry as well.

"AHAHAHAHAH NOOO WWAAYYY AAHAHAHAHHAHAA!"

Soon, Darry began tickling up and down each foot at the same time, exacting even worse laughter from his youngest brother. His nails seemed to electrify Ponyboy as his body bucked and wiggled uncontrollably. After a minute, Darry really let his fingers go crazy on the feet, scribbling and spidering all over.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAH NOOO MMOOREEE AHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAA!" Ponyboy pleaded as Darry ruthlessly tickled his poor feet non-stop.

"You know the rules!"

"UUUUUUNNNNNNCCCCCLLLLLLEEEEEEEE!"

Slowly, Darry's tickling turned into light strokes before stopping completely.

For maybe a minute or two, Ponyboy just laid there on the floor, gasping repeatedly for about a minute until his breathing was stable again. "I hate you both." Pony muttered, peeved at the back to back losses.

Darry was still gripping his feet in his hands, and after gasping with fake shock, he tickled Ponyboy again.

"You do not."

Darry pressed his fingers into Ponyboy's feet, and they went dancing over his soles. Pony erupting in laughter yet again as Darry teased along arches tracing the sides of his feet and beneath of his toes.

Much to his embarrassment, Ponyboy squeals, "NO!" and scrunches his toes back down, but Darry simply cocked an eyebrow and wiggled his fingers where Pony has trapped them, making the latter thrash as much as he can, consumed by loud laughter.

"OH COME ON! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH NOW!" Ponyboy yelled, unable to take anymore.

"Heh, gotcha." Darry grinned, finally letting go of Ponyboy's feet. "Next time don't let your guard down so easily."

"I swear, you two…" Ponyboy grumbled, "You two outta come up with somethin' new. Holler uncle's gettin' real old, real fast."

"You're just tired of always havin' to say it."

Darry finished getting ready for work before heading out the door. Before going out Darry looked back Ponyboy one last time.

"You're not quite as grown up yet as you think, give it some more time Pony," Darry smiled. With that, he turned away and headed out the front door to go to work. He left Ponyboy thinking. Yes, his brothers had gotten him once again, but Ponyboy wasn't that hung up about it though.

Ponyboy folded his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. As it turned out, he hadn't outgrown his older brother's antics at all.

"Maybe next year," Ponyboy mumbled.